Reclaiming the Remnants
by pbluekan
Summary: One hundred years after the Reaper's harvest, the remaining inhabitants of the galaxy are running for their lives and searching for a new home. When a lone vessel enters an area denied to the Reaper's harvest, they make contact with a race that could end the cycle for all time and return the galaxy to its former glory. Rated M for language.


**Reclaiming the Shattered-Chapter 1: First Contact**

Disclaimer:

I own nothing. Halo and Mass Effect are owned and operated by their respective parties. This is purely entertainment.

**A/N: **Hey! Enjoy, this is my take on the whole deal and I have yet to see a 'lets do first contact' scenario done quite like this. Why is it so damn long? Well I wanted to essentially capture the whole of the first major meeting into one section. I also wanted to make a little joke on Bioware/EA because of asari being well... asari and basically human. This is rather large and I did proof it, but at this size there are bound to be some glaring errors that I missed. Sorry.

* * *

_First Contact. It's a joke, God's ultimate joke on the sentient races of the universe._

_Humanity has been lucky, in a sense, when it comes to first contact experiences, if not necessarily the outcomes. When we made contact with the Alien conglomerate known as the Covenant in 2525 they already understood our language. A remarkable event. An event made more remarkable considering our ability to understand the species themselves on a personal basis. We, within months of first contact, had identified the different races of the Covenant and the characteristics of each; both culturally and physically. This scenario is likely unique in the cosmos. The statistical likelihood that any two races are similar on anything more than a chemical level is astronomically low. As a result, communication itself should be a laughable concept. Unless thought of in the simplest of terms._

_Science fiction has, for hundreds of years, played out a scenario of first contact. This has become something of a cultural ideal to live up to for Humanity. Rather it was until the arrival of the Covenant. This scenario is, however, flawed. When first contact is initiated we must remember that there is no commonality between the races in question, and anything we might consider relatable between human races, or even between ourselves and the former Covenant races is essentially useless. Gestures cannot be used. A smile could be taken as threatening (think of chimpanzees) and a one-finger salute could be an offer of sex. Noises are equally unhelpful. Words are useless and have no meaning as are symbols. Numbers are just as pointless; after all, even if you can count, you don't have to know what the symbol for two is. _

_In fact, there are very few things that are actually relatable between all species. Basic math and chemistry are two of these, and are the only way to build reliable communication between species during a first contact scenario._

_Of course, the next race we meet could be a race of hot, blue, alien women that look human and can mind-meld like a Vulcan. God knows humanity loves hitting the statistical outliers of every situation._

_-An excerpt from the introduction of the essay titled: __First Contact: God's Punch Line__ by Johnathan Goètè, published in the January 2557 issue of 'Nature.'_

* * *

**UNSC **_**Light In The Void **_**- Bridge: ****06:12 Ship Time January 25, 2572**_  
_

Rear Admiral Frederic 'Ric' Goètè relaxed in his chair as his multi-species staff bustled about the dimly lit bridge of his _Gestalt_-class cruiser _Light In The Void. _He had his coffee and doughnut and had gotten his eight ours of rack-time while his XO ran the ship. The morning had started off easily, and if the last week and a half was any indication, the rest of the day would be equally relaxing. Today was a damn good day for Ric Goètè.

His ship was among the first warships crewed jointly by the UNSC and the Sangheili Empire. The crew was mostly human and sangheili, along with three mgalekgolo pairs and the now ubiquitous contingent of huragok engineers. His XO was even a sangheili by the name of Commander Voro' Tuyokee.

_We've come a long way in twenty years._ Ric thought idly. Now that he thought about it, humanity, with the aid of the sangheili and the discoveries from Requiem, had advanced more in the last twenty years than in the previous five hundred. The ship he was captaining was a testament to the lessons humanity had learned. Equipped with a formidable armament of a bow energy projector, a spinal mounted Series-8 Super-Heavy MAC, hard-light rails, and a number of HAVOC nuclear warheads, the _Light In The Void_ was not a ship to take lightly; even more so with their new energy shielding. Even then, the _Light In The Void _ was still part a small two cruiser and five frigate battle group that Ric commanded. Yet, for all their offensive and defensive capability, the crew would likely not get to use the weaponry on their current assignment.

They were on babysitting duty at the edge of explored space. In front of them and off to port about two klicks were their charges: the research frigate _The Stars Speak _and its attendant vessels, which were measuring a gravitational anomaly moving towards the system. The scientists aboard had been at it for days, almost weeks now, but according to his little brother, one of the leads on the project, the anomaly, whatever it was, would be arriving in system in a few hours to day or two.

Ric was content to relax. He was a military man, to be sure, but he saw no reason to want to charge into battle against kig-yar border pirates or the Jiralhanae Collective. An assignment was an assignment, and each was as useful as the next, regardless of whether or not it had the possibility of death; he had seen his share of _that_ in his forty years in the UNSC, and dealt and ordered enough in his twenty years of ship-side command.

"Ric, the eggs have sent a report over for you. It's marked for priority delivery." The ship AI's sultry voice broke him from his thoughts.

"Thank you, Inanna. Put the report on screen."

Ric chuckled as the AI seductively licked a holographic finger before swiping it in front of herself, bringing the report up on his datapad. The AI had been his companion for years now, following him from ship to ship, post to post, and he was used to her antics, so he ignored her and turned to his brother's report and began to read. What he saw alarmed him. A few words jumping off the report solidified in his mind and pushed him to action.

'Anomaly[...]changing velocity[...]faster than light'

"Inanna, bring the shields up."

'Artificial alloys'

"Prime the energy projector and bring the rails to a seventy five percent standing charge." Activity on the bridge had halted as every crew member stopped to stare at the admiral as he barked orders.

'Likely first contact scenario'

"Broadcast a yellow alert to the battle-group! Communications, I want a QEC packet sent to HighCom informing them of a possible first contact scenario. Order _The Stars Speak_ and the other civvies to form up behind the battle group. Inform the _Lily In Winter_ to form up next to us and present their flank to 031-mark-222. The rest of the battle-group is to form up around the civvies! I want the _FUBAR_ to provide the civs' with an extra shield and the _Bad Day_ to cover the rear with hard-light projection." The crew was staring at him, dumbfounded by the combat orders and the first contact notice. Only Inanna was setting to work, her massive processing power analyzing tactical data and running projections of the anomaly's arrival. "Well? Move your asses! I gave you your orders! MOVE!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Came the chorus as the crew jumped into action, they might be on babysitting duty, but they all remembered reports from the admiral's time on the front lines.

"Helm, present our flank to 031-mark-222. I want our bow pointed _away_ from the _Lily In Winter_." Ric turned to a marine waiting by the door. "Seargeant, wake the XO and tell Shepard to get his ass up here, my words exactly."

"Sir, all ships reporting weapons hot."

"Good, make sure they know not to fire unless I give the order with my auth code."

"Sir."

Ric grabbed his datapad and stood, moving over to the holo-tank where the space around his ship was projected in an area of roughly three hundred thousand cubic kilometers. The tactical officer was scurrying around the tank, noting ship positions on his backup paper tactical board. Ric noted the projection Inanna had added for the path the anomaly would take through the area. It didn't intersect any ships, and thankfully the object was relatively small, by all accounts. "Inanna, get my brother on the horn and pipe in Captains Jack and Audri from the _Lily _and _The Stars_. I need to get a handle on what we should expect."

"Sure thing, Ric." The AI's voice was bright but serious. It had lost the seductive edge. For all her playfulness, she knew when severity was merited.

_"Hey bro!"_ His brother's head appeared in the holo-tank and his tone was upbeat, but the slight edge to it betrayed the situation.

"What the fuck have you gotten me into John?" Ric asked wryly. He could almost hear his brother's shrug as the holographic head moved slightly. "Hold on for a minute, were waiting on Jack, Audri, Voro, and Shepard."

_"Sure thing. What the hell do you need Spartans for?"_

"First contact military protocol. You know how it is"

"Oh...Well Inanna's still looking good! You finally dating that AI companion of yours?" His brother launched into their usual joking small talk routine. It had been the same for twenty years and was a running joke between them. One or the other of them having it for Inanna had been, and still was, the most common joke.

Inanna had chosen a, to put it mildly, rather attractive avatar; something some of the more self absorbed AIs were wont to do. Her form was a tall, curvy, woman with long, dark brown hair cascading over bare shoulders to rest between her shoulder blades. She wore a long black dress with a slit on the left that ran nearly to her hip. Her avatar's skin was an olive tone, a surprisingly human color for an AI, though streams of numbers and symbols ran over her skin and clothing, betraying her true nature along with a golden nimbus that seemed to surround her figure.

"Hah. How's Madeline?" Inanna interjected snidely.

_"Oh ... you know... still a bitch. Still trying to sue for the house." _

Ric chuckled at his brothers statement along with the rest of the bridge crew. They were used to this banter.

He heard Voro's baritone chortle as his XO stepped up beside him, the large sangheili towering over the rest of the crew even as he leaned in to the holo-tank. Ric had known his XO for twenty years; and they had been friends ever since the sangheili had saved him from a pack of flood during the fighting on Earth.

The soundless vibration of heavy armor announced the arrival of Lieutenant Commander John Shepard, the commander of the ship's and thereby the battle-group's Spartan IV contingent. His slight nod in Ric's direction indicated his readiness.

"Alright," Ric started, "Jack, Audri, you there?"

_"Yes, sir."_ Came the synchronized reply and their heads appeared in the holo-tank infront of Ric.

"Ok, we have John Goètè here to brief us. I assume Audri is already familiar with the situation, but she is here to make sure we get all the relevant details. Please begin."

_"The gravitational anomaly we have been tracking showed up on our long distance probe's sensors rather suddenly about three years ago."_ John delivered his brief in a clipped, professional tone. Diagrams and datasheets appeared above his projection's head as he talked._ "We have been tracking it since. After its initial arrival in the system marked 426-Cygnus, the anomaly started on its present course at superluminal speeds, and has kept that course for the last three years, covering roughly point two-seven-four light-years per day. It has nearly arrived at our present location, which is why we are here in the first place."_

He was stopped by Jack's quick question. _"Superluminal? You mean without slipspace? Is that even possible?"_

John replied, with a note of chagrin in his voice. _"Yes, I mean without slipspace, and I have no idea how._ _Now, if I may?"_ Ric nodded for him to continue. His thoughts were swirling at the implications. _"After a few weeks year of tracking the object we noticed a second, much larger anomaly following behind at the same pace as the first. Our initial ideas were that it was some sort of wake or shock front, following behind the first anomaly, almost like a sonic boom. That is still a possibility even with the more recent discoveries of this morning."_ John paused for a moment. Ric knew his brother didn't really have a flair for the dramatic, but he was making a good enough show of it at the moment to make even the stoic Voro growl menacingly. _"Yesterday, the anomaly finally came into range for more detailed scans to be run. At the time it was a quarter of a light-year away, and we were able to launch the short range drones. What they found is surprising. The drones were unable to get any sort of visual on the object, as the light coming from it was pushed far into the high frequency bands, but in the last few hours, we were able to deduce a spectroscopic analysis from the data. The object is made up of low grade Titanium-A and some sort of carbon...There are roughly two and a half hours until the object arrives in-system."_ The statement left the captain of the _Lily_ with his jaw slightly agape, and Ric's own XO tapping his mandibles in surprise.

Ric chuckled slightly. Neither man had been privy to the initial report that John had sent to Ric and Audri.

"So this really is a contact situation, not one of your sick jokes, Ric?" Voro's serious baritone belied the joke in the statement.

"Yes." Ric replied curtly.

He then turned to his brother's projection. John knew what was next so Ric didn't really have any issues with the orders he was about to give. He motioned to the comm-officer who set the broadcast to the entire battle-group. Ric began slowly and clearly. "As per the Harvest Protocol, I am taking command of the scientific expedition. All member vessels are by law given a temporary military commission and all requirements thereof. All ships," he emphasized the two words to signify the naval vessels as well as the civilian ships, "are to prep data wipes and technology liquidation in accordance with the Cole Protocol. All former civilian vessels are to prep SFTEs for randomized out-system vectors, then rendezvous at Shanxi colony. You will only engage the drives on my order and thereafter you will be under the command of Captain Audri O'Leary until you are released." Ric paused for a moment, then motioned to the comm-officer again, the broadcast switched to only the senior officers on the UNSC vessels, though his brother and Audri were still privy through the comm link. "In an hour and a half every ship is to prime their weapon systems and keep them primed and targeted on the object when it appears and if it stops. You are NOT to fire except by my order, and my order alone, even if fired upon...We don't need another interstellar war people." The last was said as dryly as possible."Again, as per the Harvest Protocol, I am reinstating Lieutenant Johnathan Michael Goètè to his military commission until the conclusion of proceedings. All vessels are ordered to use tightbeam transmissions for TacNet in addition to standard encryptions. Under no circumstances is any vessel to attempt contact with the object without my explicit authorization. Under no circumstances is any vessel to approach the object within five thousand kilometers without my explicit authorization." Ric nodded to Audri's projection so she knew to send those last two orders to the civilian ships. "That is all." Ric sliced a hand across his throat and the comm-officer cut the broadcast.

He looked back over at his brother, who was already back in military discipline. "Lieutenant, you are ordered to report to the _Light In The Void_. Gather all materials and personnel you need for a first contact scenario. You will be given any and all resources you require that are within my power and ability to grant. You will not attempt to make contact with the object without my order...Is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"Good, I will have a pelican prepped and waiting for you at _The Stars Speak_ in twenty minutes."

Ric relaxed his posture and released the severity from his features. "Now that we're done with all the formalities, get your shit and get over here John, we have history to make." As Ric closed the connection he caught his brothers wink and cheeky salute.

"Sir." The baritone voice was startling coming from the nearly seven foot tall armored giant who had been standing so quietly as to be nearly invisible before.

"Ah, yes, lieutenant. I need you and your second to provide a possible escort as well as security for a first contact. Also set up a boarding party and black team for a possible conflict. "

The Spartan nodded. "Sir." The armored giant strode off down the bridge. His steps were silent and he soon disappeared from sight.

_Oh what a morning it has turned out to be._

* * *

_Establishing intelligence. _

_Unless you are in a situation in which two ships are meeting in the emptiness of space, intelligence is something that must be established for both species to relate. Now, talking, gesturing, writing, drawing. None of these can reliably work when the being you are talking to could have any form what so ever. However, if they are intelligent, and are apparently industrialized, you can assume they know basic math, and most importantly, algorithms. They won't know them in the same terms you do, but they will know them. Sending a common mathematical pattern, and receiving it extended in return is the best way to establish intelligence. This author's personal favorite is the Fibonacci Sequence._

_-An excerpt from the essay titled: __First Contact: God's Punch Line__ by Johnathan Goètè, published in the January 2557 issue of 'Nature.'_

* * *

**Asari ship **_**Nefrane**_** - Bridge: 08:22 January 25, 2572 (UNSC Time)**

Admiral Daenia T'Aurè knew she was in for an interesting day, the probes they had seen the previous evening were testament to the fact. Thankfully, from what little data they, had the probes were not Reaper. That was the most important thing.

Her ship had once been the proud cruiser _Nefrane_, it still bore that name, but now it was the only hope to the 3282 asari and salarians who called it home. They had disembarked from a ruined Thessia with nearly six and a half thousand asari crammed into the ship. The _Nefrane_ along with some thousand other vessels was part of a last ditch effort to save the culture of the Council races and their clients. For years after the arrival of the Reapers at the Citadel, the different races had been building live-ships under the direction of the quarian flotilla and preparing or refitting older warships to carry and house thousands more.

After The Fall, most of the ships were directed to scatter throughout the galaxy; to delve into the dark corners that the relays could never reach, and hopefully, find sanctuary. Others, the largest of the live-ships, had launched themselves into dark-space, headed for the Magellanic Clouds and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Every ship in this new Migrant Fleet had been equipped with QEC connections to the live-ships. The cost was enormous, but the QECs had saved more than one ship from falling into a trap. Regardless, most of the ships, over the last seventy years, had been caught and gone dark, their connections disposed of lest they fall into reaper control; though thankfully, two of the three extra-galactic live-ships were still in regular communication. If Daenia had to hazard a guess, she would say her ship was now one of only two vessels remaining in the galaxy that was not under Reaper control. The third, _The Spirit's Guide,_ a turian vessel, had not made their scheduled check in for a day and a half. They were already mourned.

Daenia sighed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she sagged back into her chair. The nearly empty bridge around her humming quietly with the sound of the drive core. She looked around, and allowed the soft blue light to calm her nerves. It wasn't until Daenia noticed the concentration on the face of her communications officer that she realized her prediction was about to show itself.

"Lieutenant, Aniya, what is it?" Daenia asked forcefully to keep the tremors of grief from showing.

"I'm not sure Sir. It's coming in on tightbeam radio from the direction of the system ahead of us. All frequencies, but it's just a repeating sequence of blips. I can't count them fast enough though and it repeats after a bit." The young maiden tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Here it's about to start repeating again." She handed Daenia the audio patches, which she quickly stuck below her jaw.

Daenia sat for a moment, waiting, listening to the static of the cosmic background filter into the system. Then there was a click, then silence again for a moment followed by another click, then silence once more. This was followed by two in quick succession, then three, then five, then eight. After that she lost count. She recognized it for what it was though, it was contact. She immediately hit the ship wide communicator on her wrist. "Doctors Solus and T'Soni please report to the bridge immediately!"

Daenia continued to listen to the clicking communiquè as she waited. Almost perfectly as the transmission went silent again the jittery salarian scientist appeared. His skin was clean and unscarred. His scales looked new. _They probably are new. _ She thought. _Probably a new body. The one he had was getting old. _"Here." She said, and handed the scientist the patches. "What do you make of it?" She pulled a second set out and attached them just before the signal started again, and suppressed a laugh as she watched him tap his fingers rapidly on the desk in time with the beeps. "Doctor?"

"Shhush shush shushh. Hmmm...hmmm? Ah yes. Very clever. Wonderful idea!"

"Mordin?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yes. This is the Golden Sequence. Common in nature. Useful method of assuring intelligence. Reply back."

"What?"

"Reply back."

"Wh-How? Why?" Daenia was flustered now. Mordin had always managed to do that to her with his combination of abruptness and mystery.

"Obviously space faring species. Could be of help. Must warn them, regardless. Send transmission back. Use tight-beam. Direct precisely along path of their transmission." He smiled slightly at her confusion.

"What should we send back?"

"Same thing with next number in sequence! Tells them we heard and understood. Also recommend stop at edge of next system. I will wait here."

Daenia frowned slightly, but nodded, returned to her chair and had the ship's VI return a repeating tightbeam signal with the added number back along the path.

She then sent out a ship wide broadcast calling for all on-call personnel to report to their stations. Her bridge began to fill and she noted each of her officers arrive, as well as Dr. T'Soni's arrival.

"What do we have?" Liara T'Soni's soft voice did little to betray the hard information broker the woman had been for many years. Though, of course, now she was a simple archaeologist who organized and collated information on all the races that were now gone. A woman whose only time off ship was used collecting trinkets from lost species on nearly every garden world they visited. She was still one of the most valuable people aboard the ship, regardless of the her rather young age.

"First contact." Daenia stated simply.

"Ah...When?"

"We arrive at the edge of the next system in twenty minutes."

* * *

**UNSC **_**Light In The Void **_**-****D2-Deck Auxiliary Communications: 08:23 January 25, 2572**

Johnathan was nervous. In fact, he had only been more nervous the day his daughter was born. He was sweating, he was tapping his teeth together rhythmically, his feet were tapping on the deck plating, and his hands kept darting to the earbuds at every stray sound. He nearly fainted when Inanna's silky voice sounded in his ears.

"You're going to have to shower before you meet them John, you look like a fat man in a steam room, probably smell like one by now; and anyway if you tap your foot anymore you're going to wear a hole through my deck plating." There were times when Inanna could be so crude as it bordered on obscene, and then other times when she sounded like his mother; such a strange combination. It was why he had always liked his brother's AI companion.

"Oh shut up you old bat! I just want to hear it when-if it arrives." John groused.

"OLD! I'm TWELVE!" Her shriek rang in his ears as her scowling face appeared on his monitor.

"Yeah, that puts you among the three oldest AIs in existence. You, Roland, and Cortana. Admittedly those two are quite a bit older. Hell, Cortana's what? Twenty one?" He began to purposely drift off, his voice getting quieter. He knew it annoyed her.

"Oh look, you missed it!" Her chipper comment broke his carefully crafted ruse.

"WHAT! No! Damnit...you!...Wait, I didn't miss it, there hasn't been a received signal. Oh... SON OF A BITCH!" His yell drowned out the cackle that emanated from the speakers. It was almost at that exact moment that a clicking began sounding in his ear.

John immediately focused and waited for the repeated sequence to finish. Whenever a number would finish he would write it down on the notebook in front of him. _There that's thirty four._ He wrote down the last number they had sent to the object and waited for the few seconds of silence. His heart hardly seemed to beat. Then the clicks started again, and he counted. _ Holy shit...Fifty five...I just made history._

* * *

**UNSC **_**Light In The Void **_**- Bridge: ****08:25 January 25, 2572**

Ric was relaxing again. It was a waiting game now to see if what aliens there were stopped by, or even replied to their 'hello.' Yes, if there was any time to take five, now would be it; before all the hustle and bustle started.

Of course, leave it to his little brother, who had been ruining Ric's downtime since they were kids, to sprint onto the bridge, chest heaving and breath coming in gasps. "You know there's a tram that runs along the ship lieutenant. It even stops mid-ship." Ric always did like pulling rank over his brother at humiliating times.

"Yes...sir." John gasped out between breaths as he snapped off a salute.

"At ease."

"I...know about the tram, sir...Inanna made it pass me."

"Ah." Ric glanced over at the pedestal. The AI's avatar was standing there, hand on one hip, the other covering a small smirk.

He motioned for the comm officer to broadcast to the battle-group senior officers. "Alright boys and girls, this is the real deal. Remember my orders. Nobody fires except on my explicit order and authentication. No ship or craft is to approach the alien craft within ten thousand klicks except by my authorization. If they approach closer, then the whole battle-group is to reverse." He closed the connection. "Commander Shepard, please prep the _Normandy_ to leave the bay." He sent over the intercom. "Communications, get me a QEC connection with Admirals Hackett, Anderson, and Lasky, as well as Lord Hood."

"Already done, Ric. They requested the conversation be private, they're up in your office." The AI's voice was still rather smoky but had a completely business feel to it.

He nodded to his brother then walked to the far corner of the bridge and slipped through the small door into his office. In front of his desk were the projections of four men and a sangheili. "Admirals, Arbiter, Lord Hood." He bowed slightly to the holograms.

"Rear-Admiral, sit-rep." Hackett had always been brusque.

"Sirs, we received a reply to our 'hail.'" He made finger quotes for the last word.

"What kind of reply, Goètè? Text, images, spoken word?" Hood's voice was firm, methodical, emphasizing every word. It was a voice that had seen humanity through some of its darkest times.

"No, sir. Just the same sequence back with the next number added. According to my brother that is as much as he really expected. I'm prepping a team of five to meet them, if possible, face to face on the stealth corvette _Normandy_." He stood, back straight as he outlined his short plan.

"Who's going to be on this team of yours?" Hood again.

"Myself, Lieutenant Goètè, Captain Jack Boure of the _Lily In Winter, _and a pair of Spartan escorts, sir."

"You will not be including a warrior of Sanghelios in the proceedings?" The Arbiter's voice was a bass rumble, questioning, but not accusing in any manner.

"No, Arbiter." Ric nodded respectfully towards the Arbiter. "We had originally begun making plans to include Commander Voro' Tuyokee in the proceedings; however, he believed it was prudent to establish some form of communication before introducing other species. I believe my XO's exact words were: 'I do not wish to sit and watch your brother excitedly wet himself while miming to aliens. I will remain here.'" A chorus of hoarse chuckling escaped four of the projections. Hackett simply nodded.

_Hard-ass._

"Alright. I expect we will be notified if there are any further developments, and I see you have the recording all set up. Thank you, Admiral, that will be all. Hackett out." Hackett's scarred visage vanished.

"I swear to god he says that every time he cuts a connection. Even personal calls." Anderson was laughing as he spoke. "Well, Goètè, it looks like you, as usual, managed to pick the assignment that ends up putting you in the goddamn history books."

Ric smiled wryly. "It's not for lack of effort, sir." Ric stated sarcastically. Another round of chuckles. "I was rather hoping to enjoy some time in the Admirals' Lounge after a relaxing assignment. Now I expect I'll have my mug plastered next to my brother's all over the net."

"Enjoy it, Goètè. Let us just hope this Contact goes better than the last." Hood and the Arbiter both nodded to Ric, then vanished.

"Ric, we will be at your position in nine and a half hours with both the _Infinity_ and the _Forward Unto Destiny._ Luckily you already have our only contact expert in the entire UNSC present already, so everything should go well. I hope all we will have to do is share a drink and talk about the hot blue aliens?" Lasky smiled.

"I hope so, sir." Ric returned the smile and then nodded. "I will expect your ships at 18:00 hours." Both men bobbed their heads and vanished.

"Shit, today is going to be hell, isn't it?" He asked the empty room.

"Yes, yes it is, Ric." The AI replied unhelpfully.

* * *

**Asari ship **_**Nefrane**_** - Bridge: 08:42 January 25, 2572**

"Sir, we are nearing the edge of the system. There are several large objects ahead of us, just off of our direction of travel." The bridge was disciplined and quiet but for officers passing information. The tension, however, was so thick it couldn't be cut with a hot razor.

"Drop us out of FTL fifty thousand kilometers from the nearest object. I want disruptor torpedoes loaded and primed and the GARDIAN lasers warned up. What's the status of the Thanix and our kinetic barriers?"

"The Thanix Cannons are primed and ready, Sir. Barriers are holding strong at 98 percent. The broadside guns are also primed and ready. Engineering is reporting that they are prepped for an emergency jump to FTL." Daenia smiled slightly. Her crew was still holding strong even after seventy years of ship-board life. Thank the goddess for asari patience an salarian ingenuity.

"98 percent?"

The lieutenant looked back sheepishly. "Sorry sir, there are still some ruptured tertiary conduits. Manufacturing reports it is still another week until they have replacements in place."

"Fine. Solus, T'Soni! Are you two ready for any communication they might try?" At the nods from the two scientists she turned to the commando squad on the port wall of the bridge. "Shyala, T'Dane, Aenaerys, Ciali, Vasir!" They snapped off a salute. "Good. Here we go. Helm, full stop." With a slight _whump_ and a whine from the drive core the _Nefrane_ dropped from FTL for the first time in three years. Daenia's mind settled into the informational cruise of captaincy as reports began to flood from the rest of the bridge.

"Seven ships off our bow in formation around ten smaller vessels!"

"I want ship-types!" Daenia shouted.

"Unknown. Size indicates two dreadnought-class and five cruiser-class vessels surrounding an additional cruiser and ten vessels frigate size or smaller."

Daenia looked at the holographic screen that showed and magnified the space outside. The seven larger ships were indeed positioned around the group of lesser vessels, and appeared to be facing outward in a protective formation. Probably a convoy of some sort, or a scientific investigation.

The warships were of varying design. Most of them were sleek and almost aquatic, but still had rather angular look; the two dreadnoughts in particular were identical. What Daenia thought was the bow of the vessel ended in a rather sharp edge like some sort of gigantic ice scraper. This edge tapered up and to port and starboard quickly into the main body of the vessel. In the middle of the bow Daenia could see the opening for what looked to be a mass accelerator of gargantuan size. From there the ship narrowed in height ever so slightly, before flaring slightly around the engines. Daenia could see symbols, meters in height emblazoned along the side of the vessel: _Light In The Void. _She could also see windows all along the sides of the vessel and one rather large docking bay on the side facing her which was brightly lit. There were also groups of antennae of varying lengths spaced all along the dorsal and ventral sides of the vessel.

The cruisers were a more mixed bunch. Some were ugly, angular, successively tapering, gun-metal grey, bricks with antennae. Others were quite beautiful and had a distinctly aquatic feel. They were just slightly bulbous at one end which narrowed slightly then flared out widely just before the engines. The design reminded Daenia of aircraft that had been common on Thessia before the discovery of mass effect technology. The skin of the craft enhanced the watery feel with a dark blue to purple sheen.

She tore her attention from the view and turned back to the information on her chair's screens and the organized din of the bridge as various officers called information to her.

"Sir they have an active targeting solution and high energy concentrations at the ships' surfaces indicates their weapons are charged!"

"Target the starboard dreadnought."

"I'm not detecting any gravitational fluctuation consistent with eezo tech."

"Target locked!"

"We're receiving a signal...Same as the last one!"

"Reply back, same frequencies. Use the same signal we sent back last time." Daenia ordered.

She could hear Mordin off to her right talking quietly, but animatedly to either himself or Dr. T'Soni. "Interesting. Multiple designs indicate rapid progression. Or possibly. Yes. Fusion of two designs. Two cultures? Two distinct species? Both possible. Peaceful? Possibly. Attitude indicates familiarity with conflict. Restraint still shown. Manner of contact indicates wish to meet. Hm, yes. Outcome looks good." She smiled at the doctor's rapid fire monologue. Daenia had known Mordin for one hundred and twenty years and his mannerisms were still as comical as the day they met.

"Sir, it appears a small frigate is exiting the bay of one of the dreadnoughts. It is moving towards us."

"On-screen and magnify, please."

The large view screen filled with the small ship. It was of a slightly different design than the other ships on the field. It still had the aquatic feel to it, though with distinctly avian overtones. If Daenia didn't know any better she would have said the ship was a turian design. There were two downward angled swept wings towards the back. Four large thrusters were mounted on the wing, with the two larger thrusters which ran nearly two thirds the length of the fuselage closer in, and the two, slightly smaller thrusters were mounted to the wing tip. The fuselage itself tapered on both ends, with the widest portion sitting about three quarters of the length back from the front of the ship.

"Frigate has halted directly between us at twenty five thousand kilometers, sir." Daenia nodded and then watched the view of the small vessel as what looked like a cargo bay slowly opened. She turned to Mordin with a questioning look.

"Simple. Meeting place at semi-neutral location. Asking us to come aboard. Rather fast paced, however. Likely know we are alone. Recommend prudent caution. Not overzealousness. I will grab my equipment. Meet you in shuttle bay." The salarian took a deep breath and smiled. "Historic day. Good to be alive."

* * *

**UNSC **_**Normandy **_**- Shuttle Bay: 08:55 January 25, 2572**

Ric was relaxed again. Everything was moving smoothly.

Ric, along with his brother, and fellow captain, was about to make extraterrestrial first contact for the first time in forty seven years. For that matter, it was the first time that contact had begun with anything less than bloodshed for humanity. He chuckled darkly at the thought as the sleek shuttle flew into the small cargo bay.

The craft, like its parent twenty five thousand klicks away, looked like something out of the ocean and was disconcertingly reminiscent of Covenant craft. He shivered slightly at the thought, glanced back at the two Spartans behind the group, and then at the locations he knew the two cloaked Black Spartans would be concealed.

As the craft settled to the deck Ric heard his brother ask Inanna a few quick questions. He could easily imagine John's face at the moment. His eyes would be as wide as saucers and his teeth would be tapping like he always did when he was nervous. Ric smiled. _He's probably sweating like a pig!_

John's voice sounded in his ear again, but the man was addressing the _Normandy_'s AI this time. "Edi, can you please scan the shuttle as best you can for contaminants and biohazards, then seal the shuttle bay and initiate biohazard containment procedures?"

"Containment is already in place, Lieutenant, and there appear to be no contaminants or infectious agents present in the shuttle." The AI's voice was crisp and businesslike. "From my sensor readings and the energy emissions coming from within the shuttle, they are in fact performing some type of decontamination inside." Ric could feel his brother's smile. "I am also detecting standard mix Nitrogen-Oxygen-Argon atmosphere inside the shuttle."

"Excellent! Edi, please start the First Contact programs."

* * *

Mordin was in his element. This was discovery at its finest. Science at its most premium. Meeting a new species, a new culture. So much to learn. So much to understand.

"Sir, they are scanning us. Deep scan, seems to be ignoring our tech."

_Not scanning tech. Scanning us? Scanning environment? Looking for something. Ah!_

"Raise shields I don't want them-" Daenia started.

"No, no. No shields. Biohazard scan. Checking for contagions. We should perform decon." Mordin interjected quickly. There was no reason to put their hosts on edge.

Daenia hesitated for a moment. "Very well. Vasir, initiate standard deco sweep."

"Yes, sir."

Mordin watched the orange beam pass over them. Sweeping through the small shuttle several times before a smooth asari voice indicated completion of the decontamination protocol. Almost immediately he noticed a projection outside the window, it was simple. There were five figures that bore a base similarity to the specimens outside. _Hmm, five figures in projection. Five outsi-_ His thoughts were interrupted by Liara, who was already explaining the simple request to the admiral.

"Vasir, T'Dane! You're with me. Doctors, you as well please. Ciali, Aenaerys, Shyala stay here. Keep her hot. Do not leave the shuttle unless I ask you to. I want full helmets just in case." She turned to Mordin. "Mordin, would you please run a biohazard scan on your omni when we leave the shuttle?"

He looked up from his omni where he was already prepping the scans. "Hm? Oh, yes, of course. Already prepping scans. I am ready when you are."

Daenia nodded and then punched the button on the shuttle door. There was a hiss, and the door pushed out from the body of the shuttle and rose over the top. The two commandos stepped out first, shotguns pointed to the side. Daenia disembarked and was then followed by Mordin and Liara. Mordin, as he stepped from the shuttle, was looking in every direction possible.

_Bay very utilitarian. Unadorned. Likely military vessel. Unless culture puts little value on aesthetics. Cannot answer. _His eyes lit on the figures in front of them. All wore some type of hard-suit. The two in the back were immense. _Hmm, wearing suits on own ship? Compromised immunity like quarians? No, no, not simple enough. Simply for safety? Yes, yes. Likely extra biohazard containment. Then why such large armor on some? Synthetics? Possibly. Facial covering suggests otherwise. _

As the small party exited the shuttle, Mordin raised his omni and initiated his biohazard scans. Almost immediately the air thickened with tension as devices that looked like firearms were raised and pointed in his direction. He looked down and could see the red dot of a laser sight flickering around his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the commandos crouched with their shotguns aimed at the two largest of the armored figures. The three smaller figures in front of the group had turned around and were gesturing wildly to each other. _Physical communication rather than vocal? Using communication systems? Both possibly._ The gesturing continued for a minute more before the two armored figures lowered their weapons.

Mordin resumed his scans; alert for any possibility they didn't wish for him to continue. With a sidelong glance he could see Daenia wordlessly ordering the commandos to relax. As his scans finished Mordin went back to his visual observations. _Very similar to asari. Plantigrade limbs. Similar proportions. Five digit hand. Elbow joint appears identical. No apparent mammary glands. Five member sample not representative enough._ It was at that moment that one of the figures approached Daenia with a box.

* * *

_As stated previously, basic chemistry is the only set of universal symbols that can be (relatively) easily used for communication. How do we use chemistry to communicate exactly? Well it is quite simple, really. Count the protons._

-An excerpt from the essay titled:

_First Contact: God's Punch Line__ by Johnathan Goètè, published in the January 2557 issue of 'Nature.'_

* * *

Mordin was ecstatic as he examined the package the creature carried. It was filled with small magnetic spheres, each about one and a half centimeters in diameter. Daenia, had been entirely lost when the creature began assembling the small spheres in ever increasing groupings and then showing her each one before he placed it on the ground. It had even taken Mordin a moment to realize what it was doing. It was a process his own people had gone through when contacting the Krogan. Simple, yet useful method of establishing communications.

To the rather bemused huffs from his companions, Mordin pushed past Daenia, and proceeded to sit himself on the floor of the bay, where he examined each of the assembled clusters. The creature, who had stepped back slightly at Mordin's approach, turned to its own companions who apparently nodded, and it then proceeded to lower itself to the floor in front of Mordin. It then began assembling more clusters of spheres.

_Interesting, eight of seven. Two of eight. Most likely atoms. Nitrogen and oxygen. Ah, yes! Ingenious!_ Mordin proceeded to point at the creature's collection of clumped spheres, then gesture wildly around the room. He then gestured to himself and his companions, and then back to the clumps. All of his attention was focused on the creature, looking for its reactions

"Mordin, what in the name of the goddess are you doing!?" Liara sounded almost fearful. The tone of her voice forced him to acknowledge her. He then followed her line of sight, which happened to be on the two hulking figures which were staring (as far as he could tell) in his direction.

"Be calm. Simply sharing information. Explained atmosphere composition. Can remove helmets."

"Ah." Mordin could hear her relax.

"No. We should leave our helmets on as a safety precaution." One of the commandos spoke up.

"Removing them is really going to be necessary to really engage in any further communication, not to mention a meld." Liara's voice was firm and confident.

"They haven't removed theirs." The commando retorted.

"We are the guests. Our choice. They do not force issue by acting themselves." Mordin explained slowly.

"Very well." Daenia sighed. She sounded almost tired. "Who goes first?"

"I will." Liara's voice was quick. "I am supposed to be the one interacting with them, I should start."

"Yes. Good idea. Go on." Mordin tapped his fingers together in nervous excitement as Liara unlatched her helmet with a slight hiss and then pulled it over her head.

* * *

_Of course, the next race we meet could be a race of hot, blue, alien women that look human and can mind-meld like a Vulcan. God knows humanity loves hitting the statistical outliers of every situation._

_-An excerpt from the introduction of the essay titled: __First Contact: God's Punch Line__ by Johnathan Goètè, published in the January 2557 issue of 'Nature.'_

* * *

Ric was speechless. Of all the strange things to happen to the human race, to happen to _him_, and this was it. The aliens had already looked recognizable, but this, _this_ was just over the top. "In that essay of yours that was published about fifteen years ago. You know the one you're famous for? Isn't there a quote that has been spread all over the nets as a joke?"

"Yep." John's voice was a high squeak.

"You should start doing horoscopes." The mild joke elicited a sigh from John as he relaxed.

Inanna's voice appeared in his ear. "That line is recorded and saved for posterity."

"Leave it to you, sir, to make a joke in this situation." Jack added.

"Wonderful. Well, John, I think it's time one of us removed their helmet. Shall we draw straws?"

"Why don't all three of us...?" John left the question hanging.

"That'll work I suppose." Ric replied. "On my mark... three... two... one... mark!"

With a click and a hiss the three men removed their helmets. They were greeted by one of their guests limply dropping to the floor.

* * *

To say Daenia was unprepared for the situation would be a gross understatement. Seeing what were essentially their cosmic twins was shocking enough to give even her finely tuned instincts pause. That was, of course, until T'Dane fainted. According to Daenia's omni the maiden was blessedly fine and healthy, aside from her unconciousness. The computers readout of her heartbeat and respiration told the simple tale. She looked over at the three people. _By the goddess, is this just some joke or a dream? If I didn't know any better I would say they were asari with fur. For that matter, they look almost masculine. Are they even male? They look it. I suppose it'll do for now_.

She removed her own helmet, then leaned over and pulled off T'Dane's. She lightly patted the girls cheeks until her eyes fluttered open. At which point the commando began apologizing profusely.

"Sorry, sir. I'm so sorry, there's no excuse. It's just..." The girl's eyes flicked over to the three standing across the room.

"It's alright, rather understandable given the circumstances. Just relax, stand up, and grab your gun. Don't want to make fools of ourselves." Daenia straightened and hauled the commando to her feet. She then looked back over at their hosts, who were staring, quite unashamedly, back with an expression that Daenia could only assume was shock. "Doctor T'Soni? You're the expert here, what do you make of this? What's our next move?" Daenia's voice was firm, commanding.

The minutes ticked by as she waited for Liara's answer and the two parties simply stared at each other. She even tried to nudge the archaeologist into action both verbally and with a physical push. It was nearly twenty minutes before the woman finally spoke. "Uuh. I apologize admiral. Please...Just a moment." Her voice had a slight tremor to it. That was not unexpected, and was far better than Daenia could have hoped, given the recent revelations.

* * *

Liara began walking between different members of the party, tapping them on the chest or shoulder, then looking at their hosts and saying "Asari." slowly and clearly. When she tapped Mordin, she, of course, clearly said "Salarian." Once she had finished the rounds, she started again, but first by gesturing to herself and then stating her name. She went around to the rest of their group and did the same. She then held both hands out and gestured to their hosts.

Liara was at the end of her rope.

She had been the galaxy's largest information broker for twenty years, and an archaeologist for another thirty before that. She had seen some of the most strange and baffling pieces of information pass through her hands. None of it compared to this. It was a near statistical impossibility, but nevertheless it stood before her and she was introducing herself to it. It was apparently a member of the human race, and its name was John. She rolled the strange words through her mind, feeling the unfamiliarity of them. She knew, however that if she were to try and sound out the words, her mouth would be more than capable of the task.

She refocused on the events unfolding in front of her. The human was introducing its companions. The two smaller were apparently called Ric and Jack. The two larger had gone unnamed and unmentioned aside from their mention as part of the species. Hopefully that meant that they were not synthetics, but their lack of personal names was a cause for concern. It was likely a military matter, but that did not assuage her concern.

The human stepped forward again and held out what she now saw was an un-gloved hand. She stared at it for a moment, noting the similarity of the appendage, even down to the number of joints and the clear, hard, protection on one side of the tip of each digit. After a moment of study she pulled off her own gauntlet and held her hand out in a similar manner. It wasn't a moment before she jumped as the human lightly grabbed her hand with its own. There was one difference. The skin was exceptionally soft. Not that asari skin wasn't soft, but this human's skin was exceptionally supple, if not as smooth.

It raised their joined hands up and down once, then released her hand, stepped back and moved to Mordin, where he repeated the gesture. _A greeting then, probably traditional._

When the human returned to her, she remembered something her father had once said to her: '_When in doubt, return the fucking favor._' Admittedly the context then had been in regards to the Reapers' murder of her mother, but the principle still applied. She extended two fingers, curling the rest into her palm, then touched first her head, then the area over her heart before bowing lightly to the human in front of her. It gave her an asari-like smile, then returned the gesture; she noticed the other two humans with visible heads also had an asari-like smile.

It was a historic moment. Perhaps a defining moment for her species, one that Liara felt blessed to be apart of. The wonder of the moment, however, didn't lessen the heaviness that gripped Liara's heart when she thought of the warning that they had to deliver to these people; she could, however, continue to enjoy this for the happy occasion it was.

After straightening from its bow, the human turned fluidly and moved to one of its fellows who handed it a small black box. The human then returned and held the object out for her inspection. She looked at it for a long minute before her native archaeologist curiosity took hold and she reached out a hand to the object.

Daenia's firm command halted the movement. "Don't touch it, Doctor. Let the alien mess with the thing first, then, I promise you can play with it."

She looked back at the nine hundred year old admiral and nodded slightly. It was several more minutes before the human seemed to take the hint and activate the device itself. It pressed a single place on top of the object, slightly to the left side, and a hologram appeared. It was beautifully rendered with exquisite attention to detail, without the static lines and slight flicker that Liara was used to. It was a world; a slowly revolving, resplendent blue-green orb with pearly white clouds skittering through the thin veneer of atmosphere.

_Beautiful._ Was her only thought as she reached out to touch the image.

"Earth."

The smooth, slightly higher pitched voice that came from the box was unmistakably asari. Liara stepped back slightly and looked at the box in confusion. _There is no way they already mimicked our voices that fast. It doesn't even sound like me, and I'm the only one who's said anything!_ She didn't have long to linger on this small surprise. The human, as if sensing her surprise, hurriedly swiped its hand over the box and the hologram changed.

It was a still image of a small group of humans. One looked similar to the three in the docking bay, and another two were miniature versions of the humans in front of her. _Young, most likely. _It was the fourth member of the image, however, that held Liara's attention. It quite simply looked like a pink skinned asari with fur on her head. She-it even had breasts! _This contact only gets more strange the longer it goes on._

Liara felt almost apprehensive at the thought of what might be revealed later, but at the same time, she thought it would be better to get it all into the open, like ripping off a bandage, and there was only one way to do it.

Liara stepped forward. _Daenia won't like this._ She reached up slowly, as non threateningly as she could, and touched the side of the human's head. _She really, _really_, won't like this._ Then, with the same hand, touched her own head. She repeated the gesture several times staring up into the human's eyes.

* * *

It was a joke, it had to be. This entire thing was a great cosmic joke on humanity, and _especially_ on Johnathan Michael Goètè. She-the asari was communicating something. He couldn't help but think of them as female. They all looked like women, hot women. Hell, the one in front of him looked a bit like one of his girlfriends from his undergraduate days. They had broken up because of his military service and lack of communication. _Hah!_ The thought brought him back around to what the asari was trying to tell him.

The little devil on his shoulder was suggesting that she was making a sexual offer and he laughed internally at the idea. However, after staring at the asari for several minutes while she repeatedly touched his head, and coming up with no other options he decided to do what he always did when he was at a loss: talk to his brother.

John set the box down on the floor and backed away slightly, keeping eye contact the entire time, hoping he wasn't giving offense. He then turned about-face and walked to his brother. "What do you think, sir?"

"What do I think about what?" Ric groused. "That we are in way over our heads here? That they all look like damn models? That the one in front looks like your sophomore year girlfriend?" Jack, the captain of the _Lily_, standing on Ric's right, snickered. "Catalyn, wasn't it?" Ric finished with a smirk.

_Oh boy..._ "Look, sir, we're in over our head just as much as anyone would be, and probably less than most. Anyway, I need a little help, just some other ideas. I-I can't figure out what she-it...fuck it, _she_ is trying to tell me."

"Could be she wants to mind-meld like a vulcan." Jack stated sarcastically, and John snorted slightly with laughter. "Or hell, maybe she's propositioning you, lieutenant."

"I doubt it, and I already thought of the second one, sir." John replied.

"Of course you did!" Jack said with a wink at one of the cameras. Inanna's warm laughter rolled from their ear pieces.

John looked over at his brother who had remained silent for the remainder of the conversation. He had the slightly distant look he always got when deep in thought. "Sir?" He waited for his brother to reply. "Sir?" A little louder and he waited again. "Hey, Ric! What's going on in there?" John finally gave up.

"Why couldn't it be?" He replied.

"Why couldn't it be what?"

"A 'mind meld.' A transfer. Something like that." Ric's voice was calm with none of the inflections of sarcasm. He was serious.

"Well, because that would be-" Jack started.

"Ridiculous?" Ric finished. "We're already looking at an alien race of hot blue women. I'm not sure much is out of the range of possibility."

John closed his mouth halfway to dismissing his brother's idea. _It's reasonable._ He thought. _Far too reasonable. _"I-Well, if it _were._ How do we know it's safe? Who does it? Honestly, how do we know she doesn't just pull everything? It would be the biggest violation of the Cole Protocol in history, sir." John was ticking off his fingers.

"Whatever it is, we should wait until Lasky and Anderson arrive." Jack stated firmly.

"We can't wait for them." Ric scoffed. "They're a little over seven and a half hours away. We can't keep these people here. Unless you expect me to force them to stay on the damn ship."

To be fair, John agreed with his brother. There didn't seem to be any other way than to just _do _it, and for all they knew it could have simply been a gesture of some kind. _Although she did seem rather insistent._

"So...who?" John asked hesitantly, though he knew his brother would insist on doing it himself.

"John's the easy choice here, sir." Jack's voice was hesitant.

Ric's face hardened slightly. "No, it will be me. I can't order either of you to go into what could be a needlessly hostile encounter, and if I'm going to be blunt, I refuse to send my little brother into that situation."

John sighed slightly. In battle, Ric had never hesitated, had never questioned sending John into a dangerous situation if it were necessary. If it wasn't explicitly necessary, however, Ric had always gone himself.

"Sir, with all due respect, if you're compromised..." Jack let the statement hang.

"Then you can just shoot them, Captain, and burn their ship to hell. If I take any flak for this decision, none of it is going to reflect on either of you."

"Sir, we're not concerned about that."

"Anyhow, Inanna will be monitoring my vitals, and for all we know we could be fretting over nothing." Ric finished firmly, brooking no further argument.

"Very well, sir." John and Jack chorused.

"So, _el-tee_, what do I do?"

John chuckled and guided his brother through the introductions before having him imitate the gesture the asari had made.

* * *

**Codex Listings:**

**UNSC: **The UNSC is the military government of the human residents of the Orion Arms. Formerly the military and scientific arm of the UEG and CAA (See: Article 76545 Historic Human Government), the UNSC took governmental control in 2526 (Human Date) after the Second Battle of Harvest (See: Human-Covenant War). The UNSC was initially formed as the military branch of the then United Nations in the 2160's as a response to intra-system conflicts. Today, the organization is moving towards a mixed species makeup and manages all space borne traffic and endeavors and represents humanity on the galactic stage.

**Sangheili Empire: ** Officially formed in 2552 with the secession of the sangheili race from the Covenant Theocracy, the Empire represents three of the Orion Arm races: The sangheili, mgalekgolo, and unoggy. The empire military arm holds itself separate from their human allies, however, both organizations hold a similar ranking system and humans can be found serving aboard Empire vessels just as Empire races can be found aboard UNSC vessels.

**Exodus Fleet:** A fleet of over twenty thousand vessels scattered into the galaxy after the final defeat during the Fall of Thessia. Sixteen thousand of these vessels were refitted and equipped to exist alone. Each has a micro manufacturing plant as well as facilities to grow food on board for their crew of between one thousand and thirty five hundred individuals provided adequate recycling measures. Three separate and massive live-ships were created, and each embarked with a support fleet of one thousand ships. Two were created for asari and salarian use, the third for turian and quarian. One of the asari and salarian ships embarked for the Andromeda Galaxy and the other two ships embarked for the Magellanic Clouds.

_**Technology Subsection:**_

**Tightbeam Communications:** Tightbeam communication is a simple method of lightspeed communication wherein the signal beam is focused into a high precision laser. This reduces the chance of communications being compromised, however, tightbeam signals must be aimed with a certain degree of precision.

**Slipspace Tightbeam:** Slipspace tightbeam is a method of tightbeam communication at FTL times. A slipspace portal is created into which a tightbeam signal is fired. The sinal then exits slipspace near its destination and continues along its path. This method of communication has a range limit of roughly five light-years, and is useful in coordinating system wide FleetCom.

**Massless Corridor Tightbeam:** A method of tightbeam communication wherein a mass effect core is used to create a massless corridor of space. A tightbeam signal is then fired into this corridor and then reaches its target nearly instantaneously within a range of eight Lightyears.

**Quantum Entanglement Communicator:** QUEC communication is well used in both the Orion arm and in the galaxy as a whole. The system uses quantum entangled pairs of particles to instantaneously transmit data regardless of separation.

**Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine (SFTE): ** Developed by humanity in 2291 (sometime prior for the sangheili) the SFTE is the only known viable method of galactic transport that does not use Mass Relay technology.

**Hard-Light Rails: **Hard-light rails are a simple adaptation of the now well know magnetic accelerator cannon. Photons generated by a simple layer are given a mild charge by passing them through a specially made crystal lattice. This same lattice then wraps distinct clumps of photons in a magnetic envelope. The clumps are then fired with simple magnetic acceleration.

**Smart Artificial Intelligence:** UNSC Smart AIs have been in use for over fifty years and were first developed during the Human-Covenant war. Originally limited to a lifespan of seven years, smart AI would fill their neural lattice with information and end up essentially thinking themselves to death. During the events now known as 'The Didact Crisis' UNSC AI Cortana was pulled, along with the remains of the _Mantle's Approach_ into an artificial layer of subspace. Upon her recovery in 2559 it was found that by utilizing such artificial subspace layers, AI could be given essentially unlimited room to expand, and therefore essentially unlimited lifespans.

**A/N****:** So... Sorry about that folks. I shouldn't have posted this when I did. (Its all good now) Shows you what happens when you stumble home from the bar and try to finish writing. Essentially I had changed a few things early on that I hadn't changed in later paragraphs, and there were a few formatting changes. If you read it now you won't see the issues obviously. Also if anyone caught it, there are two Shepards. Couple other things, this was a very large piece for a first chapter. If you find any errors, please point them out for me. And...

Directions. Space is a very 3d place and telling someone where to point themselves can be an interesting proposition. I decided to use a star-trek like aiming method. The first number is in degrees from 0 to 360. It begins from a predetermined 0 point when the ship or fleet enters system. This number is parallel to the solar plane of the system. The second number is also in degrees. The zero point is when the ship is parallel to the solar plane. Any other number is at some angle relative to the solar plane.


End file.
